The resignation of Tim Allan comes a day after Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney resigned, increasing pressure on the Prime Minister.
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Published February 9, 2026
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Updated: 4 minutes ago
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces further pressure to resign after being asked to resign by the leader of the Scottish Labor Party over the fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
“We need to end the distractions and change the leadership in Downing Street,” Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar said at a press conference on Monday.
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His comments follow Starmer’s head of communications, Tim Allan, stepping down on Monday “to enable the establishment of a new No. 10 team”.
Monday’s move came a day after Starmer’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney also resigned.
Mr Starmer has been criticized for appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US despite his known links with convicted sex offender Mr Epstein, who committed suicide in a US prison.
The Prime Minister on Monday stressed the importance of moving forward after leaving office.
“We have to prove that politics can be a force for good. I believe it can. I believe it is. We will move forward from here, and we will move forward with confidence as we continue to transform our country,” Starmer told Downing Street staff.
But a spokesperson for Mr Starmer said he had no intention of standing aside. “The prime minister…is committed to the task of bringing about change across the country,” the spokesperson told reporters.
Despite growing calls for his resignation, Starmer enjoys some support from senior government officials.
Deputy Prime Minister and Attorney General David Lammy said: “We must not allow anything to distract us from our mission to transform Britain and I will support the Prime Minister in delivering that.”
“With Keir as Prime Minister, we are turning our country around,” Prime Minister Rachel Reeves said in a social media post about X.
Mandelson has been under investigation since his name was included in a file released by the U.S. Department of Justice related to the Epstein investigation.
He was sacked by Starmer in September over his friendship with Epstein, and last week also left the Labor Party and the House of Lords, the upper house of the British parliament. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was reviewing the severance payments made to him following his dismissal.
The prime minister is then scheduled to address a parliamentary Labor Party meeting amid anger over the appointment of Mr Mandelson as ambassador to the US, despite knowing that Mr Mandelson continued to have links to Mr Epstein after he was convicted of child sex offences.
